William b



(No Model.)

W. B. GERE. PUMPKIN, POWDER.

No. 592,906. Patented Nov. 2, 18-97.

4. I L/kzv'm i I of UNITED STAT S PATE Q WILLIAM Gunner sYRAoU'sE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR Torn MERnE L ,:S OULE COMPANY, or SAME PLACE."

PUMPKIN POWDER.

srnoIFIeArIeu formingpart Lettersratent- No. 592,906, dated November- 2,1897: 4

"' d tumio died February 5,1897. Serial No. 622,157 on specimens.)

To all whomit-"ma/y concern:

Be it known that ,1, WILLIAM. B. GERE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga and State of ew York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Pumpkin and-Similar Pow- This invention has the object to place the edible substance of thepumpkin, squash, or sweet-potato upon the market in the form of a powder or meal which combines readily with water or milk and which is ready for use as an ingredient in making pies without requiring to be first cooked or otherwise prepared.

steam. Thedried pulp is removed-'fromthe; cylinder by a sdrapenand then further com-J minuted, necessary, to a coarse. meal or powl'lem n df fihlyfina tumbling-machined 1 spicesi'are' theuadded in; the proper-prep 1 vditty- :The common article of pumpkin flour which is now on the market is simply uncooked pumpkin dried and powdered and must be soaked a long time to restore the water which E was expelled by drying, after which'it must be cooked like green pumpkin before itcan be used in making pies. 4 v.

In practicing my invention in the best way known to me the edible substance of the pumpkin in its green condition is thoroughly cooked. or steamed, preferably under a pres? sure of from ten to twenty pounds per square inch, for from thirty'to forty-five minutes. Starch is'then added'to the moist pulp, preferably in the-proportion of about one-half of an.ounce of starchlto. one pound of pulp.

Flour or other starch-containing substances or gluten orglutinoussubstances maybe sub-j stituted for-"the starchl' The moist pulp is next thoroughly dried, preferably upon: the

outer surface of acylinder which'is heated by any ordinary tion. .ai' Fori'instance, to'one' hundred pounds Lei prim two."

' so. that thezeook has onlyj'toftake th'eneces arr-eas er i a r rr i seises r prepared in the same manner, and in refer- 'if desired, some of the moisture ma'y be-left producea slightly damp kin ,p'r'mder I; add oneliundred and I I6 6f s em-tw rou of sin s? idf ei n'am n, 8 1 fi teen-r re This finaliproduetis'a ry ineal or it with the proper proportion of milk or-milk:

-:- i=The starch which is added to the is t pulp absorbs moisture therefrom, whereby the starch-cells are caused to swell and the'starch ders, of which the following is a specification.

becomes thoroughly incorporatedfwith the the mixturet-he heat expels the moisture from the starch and causes the starch-cellsitoburst',

leaving the starch in the best possible condition for absorbing moisture quickly and communicating it to the pumpkin; bst'ane'e.

The powder prepared was above described absorbs moisture at once and assumes a mushy 'or jelly-like consistency in a few moments,

possesses a fresh color and fine natural flavor,

and is in the proper condition -for immediate" use. This day preparation can be put up in paper or pasteboard packages without danger of deteriorating, thus saving the expense of the costly tin cans which-are required for canned pumpkin and also reducing the weight andthe cost of transportation, while the flavor v isbetter than. that of canned pumpkin.

Squash and sweet-potato powder may be ring herein to pumpkin powder I wish itto :be'u-nderstood that squash and flsweet-po tato powder are embraced bythe same term.-

1 While it, is preferred to thoroughly dry the pulp, so as to produce a dry final product,still,

a cross-section, and Fig. 2 ma. longitudinal section, of adrying-cylinder which is-suitable .fbii drying thglmoist pulp. Fig. ;3 is a cross-' section ofa diiplex'liryipg nraehinefor-this purpose.

a drain-pipe Q, through which the condensed water is carriedoft to-a'steamgrapQ :presents the which re ceives bhfloist pulp, and E the feed-roller, in front-Q1, which the. pulp passes from the feed-hopperiand which distributes the pulp, so that it adheres in a thin layer to the outer surface of the cylinder. The latter rotates slowly in the direction of the arrow.

F represents the scraper, whereby the (1 material is removed from the opposite side the cylinder and delivered into a receivingtrough G.

The pulp is thoroughly dried in passing from the feed-hopper to the scraper and is removed from the cylinder partly in the-form of thin sheets and flakes and partly in the form -of a coarse meal or powder.

In the duplex machine represented in Fig.

3 the moist pulp'is fed from the feed-h0pper 1) between two cylinders which rotate downwardly at their opposing sides in the direction 20 of the arrows, and each cylinder is provided at the outer side with a scraper F and a recoking-trough G.

- which readily absorbs moisture an the'svilrying-maehiues are'eui-table for this purpoee,-I denotwishtolimit myself to any particular kind ofmachine for prac- 2 5 ticing my invention.

I claim as my invention-'- The .=herein described pumpkin owder forms rtherewith at once a mushy or jelly-like mix- 30 tnre without previous soaking and which is in the proper condition for immediate use, said powder consisting of the cooked or steamed edible substance of the pumpkin, combined opened by moisture-and heat, substantially as set forth. 4 Witness my hand this 2d day of February, 1897. a WILLIAM B. GERE'.

Witnesses:

Howann A. LYON,

HENRY F. HIHKLEY.

with starch, the cells of. which have been 35 

